AISSF forces shopkeepers to shut liquor and meat shops in Punjab

The boys appeared outside a liquor shop in Amritsar just as dusk was falling and shortly after a police patrol had done its round.

Nobody paid them much attention and even the attendant in the liquor shop mistook them for customers coming for their evening supplies, till the revolvers were pulled out, and the diatribe began about the terrible consequences that would befall those who persisted in plying trades that were not permitted by the Sikh religion.

Before anyone knew it, they had vanished and it was only then that the group of stunned spectators realised that they had just been witness to the beginning of a new phase in Punjab's terrorist campaign: morality through the barrel of a gun. In Kartarpur, two youths with naked swords and saffron turbans walked through the bazaar telling shopkeepers that if they wanted to live, they must find other things to do than sell meat, liquor or cigarettes.

The posters appeared as insidiously as the moralists and if there were those who saw the people who put them up, they were not prepared to talk about it afterwards. The posters, which have appeared simultaneously in the vicinity of liquor and meat shops throughout Punjab's 12 districts, list 13 points that constitute the terrorists new morality.

They are signed by 'Lt-General' Harjinder Singh Jinda and 'Chief General' Labh Singh of the Khalistan Commando Force. They begin with a warning that the force will fight to death the 'Hindu samaj' which is trying to mislead Sikh youths.

Then follow the 13 commandments: no drinking, no tweezing of eyebrows for girls or snipping of beards for boys, no selling or eating of meat, liquor or cigarettes, no dancing and music at weddings, no baraats that include more than 11 people, no participation in Hindu jagratas or all-night prayers, no fraternising with Radhasoami Sikhs, no school uniforms that are not saffron, black and white (for girls and boys) and no wearing (or making) of 'fashion clothes'.

The poster

Those disobeying the commandments, the poster states clearly, will be burned alive and if there are those, it adds, who know of officials who are corrupt or take bribes would they please come to the All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) office (Gurjeet faction) in the Golden Temple with their complaints.

For a state whose people are famous for their weakness for the good life and where the good life is considered non-existent without sharab aur kabab (liquor and meat) the terrorist campaign has been remarkably successful. In the villages and smaller towns of the state there are few who dare to openly disobey the commandments. Meat shops have closed in rapid succession and the only liquor available is illicit hooch.

If the aim was to terrorise people into obedience then the extremists have more than succeeded. Even for a state which has in the past four years got accustomed to terror, a new heightened level is now almost tangible in the atmosphere. In Subhanpur Chowk, a small village on the G.T. Road, near Kartarpur. the liquor shop was open but the attendant had vanished.

People said he had gone to the next village and had not been seen for a few days, ever since two liquor kiosks had been burned in the nearby village of Khilchian. When asked what they thought about the terrorists enforced morality, the group of youths (both Sikh and Hindu) fell silent and some began to move away.

Finally a Sikh youth who refused to identify himself said: "If we say anything, can you guarantee that you will protect us when the boys come back? First you protect us then we will talk." Asked if the village sarpanch would be prepared to talk, the same youth replied that he was a Hindu and was even less likely to talk since he was afraid for his life.

In other villages, the reaction was almost exactly the same. Some people were prepared to express support but they appeared to do so out of fear rather than conviction, and everyone begged not to be identified.

Between Amritsar and Phagwara, a random survey revealed that there was virtually not a single meat or cigarette shop open anywhere along the G.T. Road, in Khilchian, a small roadside restaurant that used to be quite well-known for its non-vegetarian menu denied that it had ever served meat or chicken.

The restaurant was situated directly behind the spot where two liquor kiosks were burned, but the owner denied having seen anyone or anything. "They came after 11 p.m. when the whole village was asleep," he said.

A closed liquor shop: Burning campaign

In the cities, shops selling liquor and meat have remained open, but this was because they had no choice. Said a butcher in Amritsar: "Only about 5 per cent of those who own meatshops in the city can afford to survive for more than 10 days without opening shop. Most people live on what they earn daily, so they face the choice of death by a bullet or death from hunger."

Since the extremists timed their campaign to begin immediately after liquor licences were auctioned, even the more prosperous liquor shop owners face the same sort of choice. A rich businessman who owns 12 liquor shops in Amritsar said that he had to pay the Government over Rs 12 lakh a month for the licence and in excise duty.

Therefore, he could not afford to close. He admitted that if the terrorist call had come before the auction of licences he may have thought twice about taking on so many shops. In the cities, shop owners are more vocal about their anger against the enforced new morality, and surprisingly, the most volatile reactions come from the Sikhs.

Said the owner of a meatshop: "Even Guru Govind Singh didn't tell us to stop eating meat, so who are these boys to decide what we should do? Their whole aim is to make money, everybody knows that those who can afford to are paying them lakhs of rupees just to be allowed to stay open."

Most shopkeepers are naturally very bitter about their livelihood being threatened. Their bitterness is directed mainly against the police and the Government although they are unable to come up with any suggestions about what can be done. In Amritsar, over a hundred owners of affected shops met SSP Izhar Alam and suggested measures like deploying gunmen outside all endangered shops and increasing patrolling in the city.

Alam pointed out that there were already 42 mobile patrols in the city at any given time and that it was simply not possible to provide armed guards at every shop. The only solace he could offer was that licences would be provided at double speed to those shopkeepers who wanted to keep their own weapons in their shops.

Said Alam: "Our biggest problem all along has been that people refuse to give evidence against the terrorists. We have even come across situations when sons refuse to identify their fathers' killers."

A closed meat shop

Another problem, according to A.S. Siddiqui, additional deputy inspector general of police in Jalandhar is the fact that the campaign does have widespread support in the villages.

"Women seem to be pleased with it," he said, "and there is also the fact that the AISSF has been on a massive recruitment drive through their amrit prachar (baptism into Sikhism) meetings. There is one meeting a day in the state, and after every meeting an estimated 200 youths pledge themselves to the service of the panth."

There is evidence of the recruitment drive even at the AISSF (Gurjeet) office which these days is crowded all day with youths seeking to become members. There is also an air of smugness. As originators of the morality campaign (this group is closely allied to the Khalistan Commando Force), they are justifiably pleased with its success. Nirmal Singh, an AISSF office-bearer, said that the campaign was popular because it was right.

"No avatars, Hindu or Sikh, ever did these things. To eat meat is the job of rakshasas (demons) and we don't want people to become rakshasas." The Punjab Government has responded to the campaign by arresting nearly 500 AISSF activists. However, with the new recruitment drive, the arrests will make very little difference since there are thousands of new recruits all eager to win their colours in the service of the panth.

Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala has condemned the campaign in the strongest terms saying: "They are talking about meat and liquor but they have no qualms in quenching their thirst with human blood. What they are trying to do now is to distort a very progressive (Sikh) religion, and they will not be allowed to do so."

However, there are not too many bright ideas around on how this can be done. The Akali Dal plans to counter the move through their own propaganda. The Amritsar police have already made a beginning by introducing to the press youths who claim to have witnessed instances of torture and sexual perversion in the Golden Temple.

Whether this eventually succeeds or not, it will seriously affect the state's economy if liquor shops continue to lose business since the state collects over Rs 200 crore a year

Do You Like This Story? Awesome! Now share the story Too bad. Tell us what you didn't like in the comments